God-Touched

Prologue: Malif

In which Malif meets his maker, so to speak

STVegas, baby! Sin City! Colorful glittering and flashing lights, the clinking of coins and poker chips, and the susurrus of cards shuffled and dealt. People come here to be dazzled and distracted, whether it be by gambling, by the beckoning women and men at the street corners, or by fantastical performances. Professionally speaking, the distraction you offer is the lattermost. And this evening you’re on a roll in a fairly reputable but lesser-known hotel/casino. It’s not quite the Luxor or Caesar’s Palace, but you’re well on your way.
In the front of the audience is very clearly a businessman type with a nice Rolex that catches the stagelight. He’s got light ruddy brown skin and cropped and styled black hair and he’s dressed in a navy button-up shirt, black slacks, and deep reddish-brown loafers. As you beckon him up, he declines at first so you turn to the little girl sitting next to him. You aren’t sure how old she is due to the burn scars that cover half her face, but she’s smallish and dressed in a cute dress. You work your charm on her and she works hers on him. Finally, with a resigned smile he comes up.

MalifMalif the Mysterious bows graciously to the girl, turning the charm up to 11. “Why thank you for your assistance, my lovely!” Then he turns to perform the vanishing watch trick with the man, more through misdirection and such than manual dexterity.
It’ll be rigged so that the girl will find the watch in her purse at the end of the trick, though. Aftert he man is sent back to the table without it with overly-asskissing fake apologies from the magician.

STThough seemingly tactful enough not to say anything and not at all angry, it’s clear the man isn’t overly amused at losing his Rolex. But one look at the girl’s awed face and the laughter that follows, combined with your over-dramatic apologies, and he seems mollified for now. He returns to his seat, his arms crossed, his head tilted at a skeptical angle, and an amused half-smile at the edge of his lips.

MalifMalif performs a similarly overly dramatic bow at the reveal of the trick, and then continues on with a more standardized show from there.
Swishing of cape, etc.

STTowards the end of your performance, as you bid the girl open her toy-sized purse, you see her scarred face light up. She reaches in and pulls out a rabbit whose fur is the color of freshly-driven snow, whose fidgeting ears and nose are a delicate pink, and whose beady black eyes seem to regard you. Wait, that wasn’t part of the performance. But judging by the girl’s reaction, she believes it is. The audience gasps as one and breaks out into applause. The rabbit hops out of the girl’s arms and onto the stage, right past you towards the curtains. As it passes, you notice it has the Rolex dangling from its mouth.

MalifMalif the Mysterious is a quick thinker, and give a cape swishing bow once again, milking the girl’s reaction. Of course that was part of the show! He bids them all goodnight, yuo’re the best audience he’s ever had! No, really! With a wink to the girl before he goes back behind the curtains himself. “Now what on earth……”

STThe rabbit stops once behind the curtains, but bounds away as you draw closer. It stops again only to elude you once more as you approach.

MalifMalif chuckles, following it along. “Cmere ya little scamp. Come to poppa! We can’t let the angry man think I really did steal that watch now, can we?”

STIt leads you backstage, to your dressing room, and hops up onto the vanity dresser before turning to face you. It drops the watch on the dresser and says, “No, /you/ come to poppa, kiddo.”

MalifMalif cocks his head to the size. "Well, this is a new one to me. " He makes sure the dressing room door is closed. “Where’s the hidden camera?”

ST“Hey, you wanna see a /real/ magic trick?”

MalifMalif looks around the room suspisciously, but seeing nothing out of place, he shrugs. “Alright, sure, try me….”

STRight before your eyes the rabbit shifts and grows, finally splitting at some sort of seam and revealing a somewhat small and scrawny man in jeans and a cowboy shirt, sitting cross-legged on the dresser. He stretches his arms and rolls his head a little, eliciting little pops. Finally he gives you a crooked grin, pops a carrot in his mouth, and says, “Eh, what’s up, Doc?”

MalifMalif can’t help but laugh at the Bugs Bunny quote, even though he has no idea how fitting it really is. "Whoah, what in all the fucks? " He grabs at the Rolex out of worry of it getting harmed, and pockets it. “That one is… REALLY new to me….”

ST“Yeah, I know. You’ve had a pretty deprived childhood, kiddo,” the man says around a mouthful of carrot. Though you swore you had your hand closed around the Rolex, when next you look it’s fastened over the man’s wrist. It’s ill-fitting… you’re not sure if you’d have noticed it otherwise, since he wore it so naturally. “Which is why I’m here.” He points the carrot your way. “You want some? Good for your eyesight.”

MalifMalif takes the carrot in a bit of a daze, but just looks at it. “I umm…I saw Bugs Bunny cartoons. That’s not really what I was referring to….”

ST“Oh, good, we’re on the same page. It’s not what I was referring to either.”

Malif“Then… what?”

STThe man steps off the dresser. He’s not very tall at all, only coming up to your chin. You’re not quite sure what ethnicity this guy is — he’s got the brownish skin and a head of straight and coarse black hair but is too fine-boned to be Native American and too short to be Egyptian, which are the first things that come to mind — but he’s definitely not your standard Caucasian/American-type. He tilts his head up to make eye contact with you and frowns. “Geez. You’re too tall. Get down here.” You suddenly find yourself seated. Where did that chair come from? “Ah, better.”

MalifMalif knows stage tricks when he sees them, but these are tricks with reality itself. Its all a lot for him, leaving him a little dazed. “So, uh….. you hide in purses often?”

STThe man grins. “Funny you should ask that, ‘cause that’s how I met your mom. Which is actually a good segue into what I have to say next.” Though there’s a pause as if he expects you to respond, he quickly interrupts the moment you decide to say something. “My name’s Br’er Rabbit, but you can call me Dad.”

MalifMalif extends a hand for a handshake. “Taht’s an odd name. Is that a Native American thing? Briar Rabbit, huh? Mom never told me that you were an american!”

STBr’er Rabbit shakes your hand firmly. “Well, actually they just call me Rabbit. And sometimes Coyote. But that was back in the wild days of youth.” He winks. “So what did your mom tell you about me?”

MalifMalif looks thoughtful for a moment. “That’s kind of funny. Isn’t Coyote their trickster god? They must have a sense of humour to name you after him! Oh, mom just said she had a fling once and never saw the guy again, didn’t say much else really.”

STHe turns his head and squints one eye skeptically. “What, that’s it? She didn’t tell you about this guy’s unparalleled charm, wonderful sense of humor, and his Energizer-bunny-like stamina in bed?”

MalifMalif laughs. “Well, can’t blame a lass for not praising someone that vanished I guess, eh? You do like that rabbit theme though, don’t you?”

STBr’er Rabbit crosses his arms and shakes his head. “I guess not. But I at least got her some coffee before I left,” he grumbles. Finally he regards you directly. “Kiddo, I AM the rabbit theme. Everyone else is copying /me/. And that trickster god thing, by the way, is right on the money.” He pauses. “Not quite so graceful a segue, but that guy is getting a little agitated waiting for his watch so I’ll try to cut to the chase.”
“I am the /one and only/ Br’er Rabbit or Coyote or whatever you like. And you’re my son. Which means you’ve got god blood in your veins there. No jokes, no tricks.”

MalifMalif looks down at himself, and back up at you. “Well I suppose that explains the transformation,but….. fuck , really?”

STHe tilts his head and looks to the ground, putting his hands up before turning them towards himself and making a come-here gesture. “Now let me have it, the disbelief, the…” Br’er Rabbit looks back up to regard you after your response and narrows his eyes. “Well. You adapt quickly.” He grins. “You /do/ take after your old man after all!” After a pause he says, “Yeah, really. Oh, and I’ve got a couple things for you. Things that should help you tap into the divinity within. Hold on.”

Malif“Well, disbelief is easier to get over after seeing something like THAT two feet in front of you……. But wow, its still just…. who knew?”

STBr’er Rabbit digs into his pockets, eventually pulling out a tarot deck. He puts it in your free hand. “One. The best way to get ahead is to know what’s going to happen before it happens.” He reaches behind your ear and pulls out a shiny pin the shape of a shattered mirror. That ends up on top of the tarot deck. “Two. Smoke and mirrors, kiddo. Smoke and mirrors.” He grins, puts a hand over his mouth, and pulls out a star pendant. Another atop the deck. “Three. If you get into trouble, it’s best to get as far away from it as you can.” He nods at the hand with the carrot in it. “And four, a special souvenier from me.” As you look, you notice the carrot has become a golden ankh. He looks around the room warily, his nose twitching a little as if he were sniffing the air. “Ah, should you encounter Isis at any point, just… play it cool and don’t mention my name, okay?”
As the gifts touch your hands, you are suddenly aware of the blood pumping through your veins.
Nothing seems amiss — quite the contrary, in fact! You feel more… alive.

MalifMalif chuckles. “Yeah, I run into Isis all the time, right… that’ll happen.” Hel ooks over the items, and looks at his own hands at the strange sensation. “I feel…. strange…..”

STBr’er Rabbit pats you on the shoulder. “Get used to it, kiddo. You’re destined for great things.”

MalifHe looks at the pack of tarot cards, noticing the egyptian theme to them. “These could be an interseting angle to the show perhaps…”.

STBr’er Rabbit grins from ear-to-ear. “To say the least!” He looks past you briefly to the door behind you. “Well, you’ve got a watch to return, if I’m not mistaken. I’ll let you go now.” He pauses. “You got any questions, send me some smoke signals or something, eh?” He winks.

MalifMalif chuckles and grins, picking up the watch once again. “I’m sure i’ll have many. Like why the gifts, and such. But I’m sure you’re a busy rabbit, and you can always email me later, eh? Its on my show’s main webpage. I’ll walk you out.”

ST“Aww, such a polite young kit. Well sure, lead the way.”

MalifMalif chuckles. “Hey, when you’re in my position, you have to be a real force of personality, you know?” He leads the way out, and chucks the watch to the man on the way out if he sees him.

STAs you look back to check on Br’er Rabbit, he’s gone. The man is pacing about on the stage, his little girl wandering about and marveling. You could swear there’s something… different about them now. But maybe it’s just the lighting. As you go to return the watch, the man stops his pacing and looks at you intently, like a cat gazing at prey. His nostrils flare a little and his gaze softens. He approaches you with a broad smile and offers his hand for shaking. “Hi. I’m Alejandro Xaxalpa. I believe you have my watch.”

MalifMalif the Mysterious gives the man a grin, still wearing his stage costume. He shakes the hand and then deposits the watch in the same hand in one smooth motion. “Pleased to meet you sir. OR at least, more properly! I do hope you and your girl enjoyed the show?”

STThe little girl, noticing that the great magician has appeared, runs over, her feet pattering on the stage. She comes to a halt right in front of you. “Yeah, it was soooo cool! How’d you do that?”

MalifMalif grins at her sagely. “Ah, but that would be telling, would it not?” He winks at her. “Xaxalpa, you say? I did not expect a name with such rich culture behind it. Where are you from?”

STThe girl just grins all the more at your response to her. Alejandro tilts his head in acknowledgement of your worldliness. “That’s a good catch. Jalisco, Mehico, once upon a time.”

Malif“I thought it sounded South American in some sense, but I couldn’t nail down the country.”

STAlejandro grins and shrugs a little. “It’s a pretty common last name where I come from.” The little girl gives Alejandro an expectant look. He catches it and his grin turns back into a warm smile. “And this is Sofia, my daughter.” She looks at you with a big smile and curtseys. You notice she’s wearing a long glove on her left arm that goes to about mid-upper arm.

MalifMalif smiles down at her and leans over, taking her non-gloved hand in his fingers and kissing the back of it. “Charmed, Sofia!”

STIf there was any doubt that her grin could get any broader, it’s dashed once you kiss her hand.

MalifMalif smiles warmly at her and straightens back up again. “I’m glad I was able to toss something a little extra special into my show tonight for you both!”

STAlejandro nods. “Very impressive.” Sofia tugs at her father’s sleeve and says, “Daddy, can you hire him?” He replies, “I was getting there, sweetheart.” He regards you once more, pulling a business card out of his pocket and handing it to you. “I could use a man with your… unique talents.” The business card is elegant yet very striking in its minimalistic style, with a strong, bold font declaring in a soft color ‘AX ENTERPRISES’. “Just give me a call if you’re interested.” His gaze lingers on you, once again feeling very much like a cat staring at a rodent.

MalifMalif takes the card and examines it curiously. Also rather curious about the noticeable pause in his wording of the offer. He returns the man’s gaze, refusing to show any signs of being cowed by that stare. “Yes, I certainly shall. I don’t have any more shows for a few days, perhaps we can do dinner and discuss details. I’ll give you a call tomorrow sometime, and we’ll work it out.”

STAlejandro smiles. “Great. I look forward to it. It was good meeting you, Mr. Mysterious.” He turns his gaze to Sofia and holds out a hand. “C’mon sweetie. Let’s get you to bed.” Sofia says, “Daddy, I don’t wanna go to bed. We’re on vacation, aren’t we? So can’t we eat ice cream and stay up all night?” Despite her protests, however, she takes his hand and allows herself to be led away.

MalifMalif smiles at the pure innocence of the child, watching them walk away. Then he heads back to his hotel room, shaking his head. “What an odd night….”